The little that is known of this martyr is found in the Hutterite chronicles and a few documents in the archives of Tyrol. He was a native of Pinnegg, and in the days when the Tyrolese authorities were searching for Jakob Hutter with all the means at their disposal, Fest was trying to win converts in the mines around Schwaz in the Inn Valley. Here he was captured and taken to Schwaz. Several attempts were made to convert him to the Catholic Church, and because he was adamant he was sentenced to death and beheaded 3 July 1533. In prison he wrote a letter (still extant) to the church at Rattenberg on the Inn, Austria, which admonishes "that we should not be selfish, for greed is the root and the origin of evil," and which names several persons who are better known in the annals of the suffering of the Brethren; since he names Marpeck's wife, it is likely that he belonged to the circle of Pilgram Marpeck.

Braght, Thieleman J. van. The Bloody Theatre or Martyrs’ Mirror of the Defenseless Christians Who Baptized Only upon Confession of Faith and Who Suffered and Died for the Testimony of Jesus Their Saviour… to the Year A.D. 1660. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1951: 441. Available online at: http://www.homecomers.org/mirror/index.htm.